Experts proffer solutions to building collapse

The recent collapse of the five -story building in Lekki which claimed 35 lives and injured about 12 people in March has been generating debate across professional forums in the built industry on how to prevent the tide. Professionals in the built industry have lamented the seemingly predictable reaction from stakeholder who in line with […]

The recent collapse of the five -story building in Lekki which claimed 35 lives and injured about 12 people in March has been generating debate across professional forums in the built industry on how to prevent the tide.
Professionals in the built industry have lamented the seemingly predictable reaction from stakeholder who in line with the public outcry condemn the incident, make pronouncement about actions to be taken and simply go to sleep.
The Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG) in Lagos assembled professionals in the built industry and relevant government stakeholders to discourse the role of developers in the prevention of building collapse.
Architect Solomon Adeyinka, the coordinator of Ikosi-Isheri cell unit in his address to the forum, said the frequent building collapse in Nigeria, and most especially in Lagos and its attendant loss of lives and property should be addressed by all professionals in the building industry with relevance to developers
He said the role of developers is so enormous in the delivery of habitable and safe environment.
A Participant at the forum who spoke to Daily Trust on the condition of anonimity argued that going above stipulated floors is not the main reason any building collapses. He pointed out that a building that sticks with approved plans may also collapse due to building defects either of materials or engineering.
It would be recalled that the collapse of the five- story building at the  Lekki Garden was described by the Lagos state Government as simply a failure of the management of the estate to stick with the approved three floors plan for the building.
The professional argued however that, even if the approval was for three floors but the builders did a foundation for six floors and built six floors, nothing will happen to the building. They would have only violated an approval for which they would pay a penalty and perhaps have the offending floors removed.
Speaking on the topic:” Structural Failures in Collapse Building- Causes and Prevention”, Professor Musbau Salau of the Department of Civil and Enviromental Engineering, University of Lagos said structural failure in building, in broad terms comes in various forms and degrees of severity, the worst of which is collapse.
He noted that deterioration or decay, especially of vigour of serviceability (usefulness) of a building can be categorized as a failure of some sort but a total loss of bearing strength resulting in a sudden breakdown, physical depletion or falling apart  termed a collapse.
Professor Salau stressed the need for private developers to conduct geotechnical investigation (soil test) at the pre design and conceptual stage  as different soil types pose varying problems for the built foundation and the structural integrity of the entire building.
He said: “The bearing capacity of a soil is very important and can only be determined when the relevant laboratory test are conducted on disturbed and undisturbed samples obtained from the site of the proposed development.”
The professor also cautioned against putting extra floors on a building without reviewing the initial design with a structural engineer. He also warned against the  conversion of residential building to a storage facilities or shops.
He said: “The partial safety factor for loads is to take account of unconsidered possible increases in load, inaccurate assessment of load effects, unforeseen stress distribution, variation in dimensional accuracy and the importance of the limit state being considered.”
The National President of BCPG, Builder Kunle Awobodu in his presentation said the private sector led by the Real Estate Development Association of Nigeria (REDAN) has been contributing a lot to the reduction of the housing deficit in Nigeria.
“But our concern is, when a firm is developing about  5000 unit or 1000 even then proper supervision becomes a challenge because of the tendency to relax proper supervision as majority of these developers are not professional builders,” he added.
Also speaking, Taiwo Ogunbodebe, Managing Director of the Realty Harbur and vice president of REDAN in his contribution noted that the country has  a perennial problem of everyone wanting to cut corners  by reducing cost to make more profit.
He said: “The recent occurring has brought to the fore the need to address the building code in Nigeria and that is the only way thing will improve.
“The developers are the ones with the financial muscle to deliver mass housing in Nigeria. But to say only those who are professionals in the built sector to develop will be very difficult. The issues are not that of approvals but of monitoring while the developers are building.”
  Prince Segun Banjoko, the National Planning Committee for the Nigerian Block Makers in a sideline interview with our reporter queried the non-mainstreaming of the role of artisans in the discussions of curbing building collapse in Nigeria.
He said: “The approach to building collapse in Lagos State and Nigeria in general is too elitist.  They prefer to assemble architects, engineers, surveyors  e.t.c. They have no regard for artisans.
“Majority of the houses built in Lagos State are constructed by artisans. People engaged them to build their houses. Now we have showing concern for building collapse, we are not concerned about those groups that engage artisans without taking consideration of the right thing to do.”
Prince Segun stressed that there ought to be forum where professional builders, educated building professionals and artisans must be meeting at least on quarterly basis where leaders of professional builders and artisans will converge to consider areas of differences and way forward.
General Manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LSBCA), Engineer Dotun Lasoju in his closing remark disagreed with the submission that the agency lacks the capacity to effectively monitor the activities of developers as argued by previous speakers.
Lasoju said: “it is a thing of the past to say LSBCA does not have the capacity to monitor, every Nigerian has to be involved in the monitoring process because we all jointly own the environment and whatever affects the environment impacts on all of us.”